And while Arise may offer quality services to its clients, it does so by shifting business expenses, in the form of training fees, to call center agents. And paying training fees to a company to work at home is a red flag when it comes to avoiding work at home scams.
What is a Virtual Call Center?
Most virtual (or home) call centers either hire people as independent contractors or as telecommuting employees. Either way, agents are usually expected to provide their own home office equipment and in a few cases, companies might ask workers to cover the one-time cost of a background and credit check (though this is not standard). However, most companies pay the cost of training (and, in fact, pay their agents while they are trained). And while many companies do require that agents are independent contractors (as opposed to employees), they are not usually required to become corporations, as Arise does.What is Arise?
Based in Miramar, FL, Arise Virtual Solutions has been around for more than a decade. It uses virtual call centers to outsource for its clients. The types of work include technical support, sales, and customer service. Arise requires its agents to become Virtual Service Corporations (VSC), which means agents must become incorporated in their home state and pay Arise for the training required to work for its clients.How Does Arise Work?
Even finding out exactly how Arise works is fairly complicated process. Arise’s FAQ page only covers the basics never mentioning the fees for training. As you go deeper into the site, you’ll find more about Virtual Service Corporations, including that you must set up your own corporation and that it cost $99 for the initial training for Arise. However, the fees for individual client training are not mentioned until you get to the section about choosing clients. All this just goes to show how important it is to read and research carefully any work at home opportunity. Here are the basic steps to getting started at Arise:- Apply online. Must be age 18.
- Take an online skills assessment. If you do not pass any part of the asessment, you must wait three months to apply again.
- If accepted, pay for a criminal background check ($13-$26).
- With a satisfactory background check, complete “Arise basic certification program,” which costs $99 and take 20 hours.
- Establish a Virtual Service Corporation. This means completing the processes for incorporation in your state. If you have the legal savvy to establish a corporation without legal representation, this could cost anywhere from $55 to more than $400, depending on your state. However, if you need legal help, it will cost more. Also be aware many states charge annual fees and taxes to corporations that they do not charge to independent contractors.
- Sign contract with Arise.
- Set up a home office. Arise’s requirement are fairly typical of most home call center office requirements.
- Apply to enroll in client specific certification. If accepted into a certification program, pay $50-$225 for the program, which lasts from two days to several weeks.
- Complete training, begin working.
The Bottom Line
At an absolute minimum, Arise call center agents must outlay more $200 (but it could be much more depending on your state and the client you work for) and more than 20 hours of time before they can make a dime.Like other virtual call centers, compensation is usually a fixed rate – which could be by call, by minute, or by hour. This varies by client, but the company claims that “it generally adds up to between $10 and $14 per hour.” That's at least 14 hours of work before you break even. And that's not counting the cost of office equipment or phone lines.
If all these were one-time costs, it might be worthwhile if you worked for Arise for a long time. But the fact is the training fees recur with each new client. And taxes and fees associated with incorporating a business are annual in many states.
